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Show MONDAY-AUGUST 28 -2006 your Convenience fees charged on all tuition credit card payments A2 Ashley Robertson News Writer In an attempt to cut back on administrative costs in the form of credit card fees paid by the college, the UVSC President's Council and the Board of Trustees has approved changes that will disallow Visa card holders from using their credit and debit cards when making tuition payments. This new policy is one of many changes the school has made concerning tuition payments beginning July 1st. Tuition payers will now be charged an additional convenience fee of 2.75%, assessed by a third-party vendor for processing tuition payments made with Discover, Master Card and American Express credit cards. A statement released school" wide by Presi-, dent Sederburg stated that: "In an effort to help students better manage the cost of their education, the institution has provided low cost alternatives to credit card debt; such as e-check and short term loans." Abby Tennis, a Junior at UVSC, has an out-ofstate relative that regularly pays her tuition online using a credit card. "While the additional fee for online payments may not affect all students," Tennis said, "it is still aridiculousdecision to charge extra for credit card payments on top of all other student fees." For online tuition payments, the UVSC cashier's office recommends using their WebCheck system, which works as an electronic check and draws payments straight from a checking account. Although payments made using Discover, Master Card and Ameri- can Express credit cards will continue to be accepted with a fee to the cardholder, the WebCheck service will be offered free of charge. Only cash, check and pin-based debit card payments will continue to be allowed at the cashier's window. Pin-based debit cards will not be accepted online. There will be kiosks assembled across from the cashier's windows specifically for credit card payments. The payment option for short-term loans will be offered after July 1st. This short-term tuition payment plan can be paid back anytime and in any amount before approximately midterm.- The actual date is yet to be determined. These changes will only affect tuition payments and not other UVSC services: such as the Bookstore, Food services, etc. Dr. Laurie Hadley named the new director of the Gear Up Program at UVSC Abraham Hernadez News Writer Dr. Laurie Hadley was recently hired as the new Statewide Director of the GEAR UP Program at UVSC. "I was a professor at BYU for a while and, while I was there, I served on an advisory board here and was so impressed with the school that, when I was looking for a new position, UVSC was one of the top places I was looking at," said Hadley. "I saw this position and the description of working with high risk, minority youth to get them to stay in school and move on to college. That was most appealing to me about this position." As a first generation college student herself, Hadley is committed to helping young people see their potential. She has worked as an educator for the past 14 years. After receiving her doctorate in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University, she taught at Brigham Young University, Indiana University and Utah State University as a professor and then served as dean of Neumont University, which she helped start, in Salt Lake City for three years. "Through my years as an educator, I have really enjoyed mentoring students," Hadley said. "My life long goal, as an educator, has been, really, to help those who are most disadvantaged." "I look forward to the day when we can see our GEAR UP students graduate from high school and accomplish what they think they are capable of now," Hadley said. "A main goal of this program is to change student concepts about going to college." About a year ago, UVSC received a new sixyear statewide grant for the GEAR UP program. GEAR UP, which stands for Gaining Early Aware- ness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, is a discretionary grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. This program employs partnerships committed to serving and accelerating achievement of cohorts of students through their high school graduation. GEAR UP partnerships.offer services that promote academic preparation and the understanding of necessary coasts to attend college, provide professional development, and continuously build capacity so that projects can be sustained beyond the term of the grant. "My main mission as director is to help us stay on track with our proposed plans," Hadley said. "We need to fulfill our mission by helping these students to develop individualized life plans and identify what they need to be successful." HEAA till Your weetest Deal on Student Loans * UHEAA STUDENT LOAN BORROWER BENEFITS GUARANTEE FEE BENEFIT *JMEAA pays the guarantee ft AUTOMATIC PAYMENT BENEF 125% point reduction in the interest rate ORIGINATION FEE CREDrT BENEFIT Foil credtf of trie loaf! oteKsatton fee charaedon-thelr^ ' TIMELY PAYMENT BENEFIT 2% point reducticr! io r«e irrorest rate 'dfcer %& orvl;me payments LOCAL SERVICE / 1 - •••' SWrE-OF-THE-ART TS»iNOLOGV', uheaa UTAH HIGHER E D U C A T I O N ASSISTANCE AUTHORITY 877.336.7378 I www.uheaa.org |